St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-12-03

ING at the Tabernacle, after explaining
appropriate passages of Scripture, the
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, D. d., gave out
the following hymn, that was sung by
the congregation with great heartlness
Buried in sorrow and in sin
AT hel's dark door we lay;
But we arise by grace Divine,
To see glorious day.
The subject of the sermon was THIRST
in a Cavern" and the text, 'Oh, that one
would give me drink of the water of the
well of Bethlehem, which is by the
gate I'll Samuel, xiii, -.
War, ALWAYS distressing, is especially
ruinous in harvest-time. When the crops
are all ready for the sickle, to have them
trodden down by cavalry horses and
heavy supply-trains outlying the fields,
is enough to make any mans heart sick.
When the last great war broke out in
Europe, and France and Germany were
coming into horrid collision, L rode
across their golden haryests, and saw
the tents pitched, and the trenches dug
in the very midst of the ripe fields, the
long scvthe of battle sharpening to NOW
down harvests Of men in great winroWs
of the dead. 1t was at this season of
harvest that the army of the Phlllstlnes
came down upon Bethlehem. Hank to
the clamor of their voices, the neighing
of their chargers, the blare of their
trumpets, and the clash of their shields !!
Let David and his men fall back! The
Lords host sometimes loses the day.
But David knew where to hide He had
been brought up in that country. Boys
are inquisitive, and they know all about
the region where they were born and
brought up. If you should go back to the
old homestead, you could, with your eyes
shut find your way to the meadow, or
the orchard, or the hill back of the house,
with which you were familiar thirty or
forty years ago. SO David knew the
cave of Adullam. Perhaps, in his boy
hood days, he had played hide and
seek" with his comrades all about
the old cave; and though others
might not have known it, David did.
Travellers say there is only one way of
getting into that cave, and that is by
very narrow path; but David was stout,
and steady headed, and steady-nervedt
and so, with his three brave staff officers,
he goes along that path, finds his way
into the cave, sits down, looks around at
the roof and the dark passages of the
mountain, feels very weary with the
forced march and water he must have,
or die | do not know but there may have
been drops trickling down the side of the
cavern, or that there may have been
some water in the goat-skin slung to his
girdle; but that was not what he wanted.
He wanted deep, full, cold drink, such
as a man gets only out of an old well
with moss-covered bucket. David re-
membered that very near that cave of
Adullam there was such well as that, a
well to which he used to 60 in boyhood-
the well of Bethlehem; and he almost
imagines that he can hear the liquid
plash of that well, and his parched tongue
moves through his hot lips as he says,
"Oh, that one would give me drink of
the water of the we'll of Bethlehem, which
is by the gate!'
1t was no sooner said than done. The
three brave staff officers bound to their
feet and start. Brave soldiers will take
even hint from their commander. But
between them and the well lay the host
of the Philistine; and what could three
men do with great army? Yet where
there is a will there is way, and, with
their swords slashing this way and that,
they make their path to the well. While
the Philistines are amazed at the seem
ing foolhardiness of these three men,
and cannotsmake up their minds exactly
what it means, the three men
have come to the well. They drop
the bucket. They bring up the
water. They pour it in the pail,
start for the cave. "Stop |
-ye9'7- tTy the Philistines. clip them
over Eavo,eords! Stab them with your
e az D"' ou those three menu Too
Old Grand Pve. gcstr around the hill.
20: Ernest orr Gase lplashed with the